The standing stone site in far north Scotland, on the island of Callanish, bears a resemblance to the Celtic cross. Now what is remarkable is that by the time Pytheas got to Callanish, the Pleiades would have risen a few degrees to the north-east of the ENE stone row. The Carnac stones (Breton: Steudadoù Karnag) are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites in Brittany in northwestern France, consisting of stone alignments (rows), dolmens (stone tombs), tumuli (burial mounds) and single menhirs (standing stones). The inner circle is composed of 13 stones, plus a small chambered cairn, which seems to have pre-dated the main site. Their layout takes into account the position of the sun and moon at different phases as well as their relation to the horizon in different geographic locations.The researchers looked at several of the great circles, using 2-D and 3-D technology to run quantitative tests about their alignment. "This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2,000 years," she added.©Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor,New York,NY 10036.Ancient "stone circles" in Scotland were constructed in line with the sun's and moon's movements some 5,000 years ago, new research reveals.The research was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.Thank you for signing up to Space.
Swen Stroop/Shutterstock ... using 2-D and 3-D technology to run quantitative tests about their alignment. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local granite and erected by the pre-Celtic … The alignment formed by the three largest stones is one of the most interesting in the Callanish Complex.
Please refresh the page and try again. Alexander Thorn first suggested that the row could have been use for accurate observation of the moonrise at the southern extreme of the major standstill. Excavations in the 1980’s have shown that the stones were erected between 2900 and 2600 BC which means that Callanish I predates the main stone circle at Stonehenge.
Callanish standing stone circle, Callanish, Isle of Lewis, Scotland, UK. Location. Please try again.The Callanish Stones in Scotland (pictured here), as well as the Standing Stones of Stenness are both older than Stonehenge by about 500 years. "These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the sun and moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years," Higginbottom said. These include at least three other circles, several arcs, alignments and single stones; many visible from the main site. The Callanish Stones (grid reference NB213330) are situated on a low ridge above the waters of Loch Roag with the hills of Great Bernera as a backdrop.Numerous other ritual sites lie within a few kilometres. These cues include the fact that the water occurred in the south, and that the northern horizon wa s the closest, while the southern horizon was the most distant. Callanish (Gaelic ‘Calanais’) was constructed some 5000 years ago from Lewisian gneiss, in the region of 500 years before Stonehenge. Researchers used 2D and 3D technology to test the alignment patterns in the circles of Callanish (on the Isle of Lewis) and Stenness (in Orkney). The Callanish V stone row alignment was erected by our ancestors in the neolithic era circa 3000BC.